Five Star Greed – GTA 6 Could Pave the Way for $100 Games

When the latest generation of consoles launched in 2020, many started charging $70 for new releases. One of the first publishers to do so, was Take-Two, the publishing house that releases Civilization, NBA2K, and the Grand Theft Auto series. And make no mistake, the industry is eagerly awaiting the launch of GTA 6.

However, the discussions of game prices going up have begun once more, with game annalists suggesting GTA 6 could pave the way for a new standard.

GTA 6 Paving the Way for $100 Games?

Recently, Matthew Ball of Epyllion released his ‘State of Video Gaming in 2025’ report. This report went into extensive detail about the state of gaming, commenting on the immense layoffs, ballooning budgets for AAA productions, and so much more.

However, VGC highlighted a major point from the report. Matthew suggest in order to help get additional revenue into the industry, a major game release needs to establish a new ‘standard price’.

According to the report, there is “hope” within the video game industry that publisher Take-Two will use the unprecedented excitement around GTA 6 in order to bump up the default price of the game to $100. It’s believed that if Take-Two took this step with GTA 6, a game that will sell incredibly well regardless of the price, then others could follow suit, and potentially aid in recovering spiraling development costs.

Impact of $100 Video Games

In many ways, games already cost $100. Between the Ultimate Editions for many modern releases promising Season Passes and Early Access, gamers have gleefully bought into the idea. One of the most infamous examples was 2023’s Hogwarts Legacy, selling amazing well during the Early Access Period.

I would be shocked if GTA 6 didn’t offer a similar $80 or $100 version, giving players Early Access a few days before launch with some DLC goodies for GTA Online 2.0. But if the base price rises to $100 for modern AAA games, then the big ‘Ultimate Edition’ prices with Early Access and all the DLC, will go up as well.

Before gamers know it, the ‘complete package’ will cost nearly half the price a Nintendo Switch or a Steam Deck, for comparison’s sake.

The Long Con – Problems to Justify $100 Games

It would be one thing if a $100 game would be a ‘perfect’ experience. Meaning, zero bugs or glitches, for starters. Or maybe a promise of some initial free DLC. Or that it would run well at launch.

But that is too much to ask for in this industry, when many game releases struggle to come out in even passable states. Critically acclaimed games Elden Ring releasing with frame-rate issues still not resolved, Star Wars: Jedi Survivor still getting updates to fix it’s many performance woes, and many others come to mind.

And that’s not even accounting the practice of Season Passes, MTX, and other paid add-ons. We were lead to believe, paying for these was the ‘compromise’ for games not going higher than $70. But if games go even higher for their base price, will these ‘compromises’ still exist? And if so, will they go up in price too?

Lastly, the elephant in the room is prices going up everywhere. Rent going up, a trip to the food store putting a big dent in our wallets, and the potential for US Tariffs on electronic goods heavily impacting future hardware releases. While on PC, it’s easy to find good deals on games and even utilize helpful payment plans, that doesn’t exist on console.

And console, is where GTA 6 will release on first before coming to PC in the future.

The Sinister Six – $100 Games Pushing Gamers to Free-to-Play

One aspect of the $100 game is the fact, standard $70 games already face competition with Free-to-Play titles. Frequently hitting the top ten on all storefronts, games like Marvel Rivals, Fortnite and Call of Duty: Warzone take attention away from premium releases.

Now, imagine if the next major GTA game costs $100? Will the millions of casual GTA Online fans flock to the new, expensive game? Or stick with the basically free-to-play GTA Online they currently have access too? Or better yet, just play cheaper open world sandbox games on the market?

Many publishers are aware of the stranglehold free-to-play has on premium game marketshare and hopefully, realize that releasing $100 games will just push gamers further into that sector of the market.

Closing Thoughts

I understand that making video games is a high risk, expensive endeavor. And I do not envy the people that have to make the hard decisions for a game’s budget and scope. But there is a difference between survival, and pure greed.

And sadly, I think this ‘hope’ for the $100 video game, falls into the latter category.